Reading notes: The Ferryman And His Wife
The Ferryman & His Wife was an absolutely beautiful book. Usually when I love a book so much it's because of it's phenomenal writing. For this book the writing was good, but it wasn't shockingly beautiful like Siddhartha. The story however is just beautiful. Beautiful and peaceful. It was such a welcome change after reading Catcher In The Rye, something by a European author, something small, introspective, something realistic and grounded, something about life and it's inevitable end.
Going around the fjord in a retrospective on Nils Viks' life and the people in it, the shocking and harsh nature almost a character in itself, and beautiful life lessons in a magical yet utterly realistic story. The love Nils has for his wife, his kindness for others, and the hardship of those living in the fjord, all make for a book that is really hard to put down.
It's magnificently beautiful cover reflects the beauty found inside perfectly, just as the beauty of the fjord and the water that reflects it. The book asks questions like what we really value at the end of our lives, how do we deal with love and loss, and what can we give to others while we are alive?
I'm sure this will be a book I come back to again.